Category: When Hope Burned White
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6. Tarot Sphinx
I dropped the phone to the tabletop in exhaustion and let out a light moan to test whether I needed a good cry or to simply sit in the feelings for a minute. My sister was right, clearly: This space – less than 400 square feet including the staircase – was a dump. There was…
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5. One Human’s Trash
“Why do you read that garbage?” my mother-in-law asked as she took a seat at the small cafe table. I agreed to meet her here because she insisted on having a ‘good relationship’ with her daughter-in-law. What she really meant was she wanted to take every moment to tell me how to live my life,…
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4. Doomsday
The aliens were finally leaving. Two years and two months too late. When they first landed their giant reflective mansions – and yes, I mean the fee-fi-fo-fum kind – mankind tried to communicate. When that didn’t work, we used violence. We hardly scratched them, and they didn’t seem to take notice. They ignored us and…
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3. Wrapped in Fog
As she exhaled, the smoke curled around her sophisticated lips to join the cloud gathering above her head. The low ceiling pressed the smoke back down to create a veil of fumes that spun and thinned each time another actor passed through the room. She tilted her head and raised a thin eyebrow at her…
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2. The Escape
“Pretty butterflies,” the manicurist said as she shook the paint bottle and leaned over his extended fingers. He glanced down at the tattoo that had been exposed when he rolled up his sleeves. “They’re silk moths,” he corrected patiently. It was something he had to do regularly, though he didn’t mind. He liked talking about…
Grant Pearson 